Cove, Oregon.

Just driving around La Grande you can see that a majority of the cars on the road are actually pick up trucks and a good number of those have dogs on the back. There was a push to have the dogs on a leash in the back of the trucks, but people argued that that would hurt the dog more if it jumped off. I didn't see any dogs jumping off of trucks. A lot of the trucks also have gun rack over the back window. Apparently this is the norm in this part of the state, different from Corvallis.
Saturday was a lazy day. We started with coffee on the deck and than Huckleberry pancakes for brunch. I was fatigued from all this activity and so had a soak in the hot tub. then it was out and dry for an early dinner and off to see the "Wizard of Oz" in Elgin (pronounced Eljin). Elgin is a small town about fifteen miles from Cove. The production was really good and very entertaining. A nice relaxed day and we didn't have to wander to far from home.
Sunday was tourist day and Lynn and Judy were determined to show me some of the local sights. First we went to Baker city and the Oregon Train interpretative centre. I knew that a lot of people had crossed America from the east to the west in wagons, but other what I had seen in Westerns , I knew nothing more. The Oregon trail was a major trail from Mississippi, through Baker and on into west Oregon. The centre has models of wagons etc. as well as oral histories from some of the people who made the journey. And you can out outside and see some of the rut marks from the wagon trains that passed through this area. We then went to Sumpter, an old gold mining town, where I got to pan for gold. I wasn't good, not patient enough. We took a look around the Sumpter dredge. This machine was used in the creeks in the Sumpter valley, it is basically a huge digging machine. The dredge would float along the creeks while thirty or so buckets on a conveyor belt were fed underneath to dig up the creek floor. Miles before you reach Sumpter and for miles after you leave the valley floor is covered with metre high piles of stone left behind by the dredge. It has torn up the whole valley. According to one of the park rangers an even bigger dredge is still in use in Alaska. This is not a good thing. After touring the dredge, we walked around Sumpter itself, they were having a fair and Lynn had to buy some Kettle corn. Pop corn for my British readers. We then took an indirect route home over Elk Horn pass, another beautiful place and one that has a ski slope. I may need to return in winter.
Labor day, hands up everybody who loves a long weekend!! After breakfast we went to look in on one of Lynn and Judy's neighbours, a glass maker called Tom. He makes some really amazing pieces and I thought I saw something that might appeal to Darren. I would check with him.When we left Tom's Lynn drove us to Wallowa lake, near Joseph. The lake is surrounded by mountains on two sides and one of them has a cable car to the top. Although this is referred to as a tram, so I was expecting a train car kind of vehicle. We took the cable car to the top, 8,100 feet, where it was a lot colder. My top half was fine, but my feet were cold. The previous I had worn my hiking boots and hadn't really needed them so I had opted for my flip flops. Bad choice.It was cold and misty at the top and this was where we were going to have lunch. Lunch was great, I had a bowl of Chilli and a hot chocolate, which did help to warm me up. We hiked up to a look out and got lucky, the fog cleared away for us and we were able to look out and see the seven devils, a range of peaks on the Idaho side of Hells Canyon, the deepest canyon in America. On a really clear day you can see across Idaho into Wyoming, but it was not to be today. While we were walking around we were feeding the ground squirrels and chipmunks, who had no fear. Unfortunately for me a chipmunk didn't like the sourdough bread I was offering and it decided to take a bite out of my thumb. More than once!! That was enough for me and we returned to the valley floor for yogurt and I touched the lake.
Judy got a call from Maryann, Tom's wife to say that they were In Joseph and where were we. We joined them at Embers ale shop and I got to try a local brewery's beer, Terminal Gravity I.P.A. It was really good and went well with the fried dill pickles and onion rings Lynn also ordered. Now I was officially bursting. It was home to Cove and a relaxed evening in, no dinner required.